Outreach ‒ LEAGO ‐ EPFL

2023 Nov 23rd & 24th – High School student visit to LEAGO

(JOURNEES DES GYMNASIENS – VISITES CHIMIE 2023)

70 high school students that are interested in studying chemistry at EPFL from the French speaking cantons in Switzerland came to visit our laboratory to learn more about Chemical Biology.

The title of our visit was:

Chimie biologique: Compréhension du monde vivant à l’échelle atomique
Laboratoire LEAGO – Laboratory of electrophiles and genome operation (Prof Yimon Aye)

Presenters: Pierre Miranda and Phillippe Ly

2023 Nov 10 – Lausanne fish-users meeting

Phil and Tim (two of our senior graduate students) jointly led this community-targeted annual symposium. Notably, this is the first time this local symposium was organised by students. Everyone had a wonderful time and we would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the participants and the symposium sponsors.

The 3rd annual Lausanne Fish meeting took place on Friday, November 10 and welcomed more than 80 attendees that include zebrafish researchers, PhD students who use this animal model for their project, and enthusiasts in general. In addition, three companies (Bionomous, Planktovie, and Techniplast) sponsored the event and came to show off their latest technologies and products during the coffee breaks. The program started strong with an intriguing talk from keynote speaker, Professor Randy Peterson, on how large-scale screens for physical deformities and anti-social behavior in zebrafish can translate into lead drug candidates. Next, a slate of 4 speakers comprising of professors and postdocs from UNIL, CHUV, Nestlé, and EPFL presented on how fish models can be used to model rare diseases, autophagy of mitochondria, and nutrition to reduce the effects of aging. Following the coffee break, 4 PhD students had the opportunity to present their work that focuses on categorizing fish behavior using an algorithm, growth of hair cells that relates to human gene, and drug target discovery for modulating neutrophil apoptosis. Lastly, the attendees have the opportunity to comingle and network at the apéro right after. Overall, the growth of the fish community is evident as we welcomed 2 new labs as well as 20 more people than last year’s conference.

2023 Feb 3 – Olympiad Lab Tour

(LEAGO Workshop leader: Naura)

2022 Aug 15 – NCCR Chemistry & biochemistry summer camp

Voir c’est croire – Expériences sur les vers fluorescents

(LEAGO Workshop leaders: Maddalena & Pierre)

2022 Aug 8-12 – Summer science camp

(LEAGO Workshop leader: Phil)

2022 Feb 7th-11th – SJF Study Week in Chemistry – outreach for high-school students

(Workshop leaders: Tim and Phil)

Workshop Title: Investigating electrophile-mediated cell signaling in HEK293T cells and in larval Zebrafish by controlled electrophile release

Description: Two high school students visited our lab over one week, to learn about how small electrophilic molecules interacting with proteins can play a large role in the biology of cells and zebrafish, relating these signaling events to what could be happening in our own bodies. At the end of the week, they presented posters to an audience of people from all around Switzerland.

2021 September – Welcome day lab tour

(Host: Riyaz Khan, Aye lab NCCR Chemical Biology Msc student)

Workshop Title: NCCR Chemical Biology virtual outreach event

Description: As part of the welcome day, incoming master students from Chemistry and Chemical engineering department were shown around the lab. Riyaz birefly explained them our lab’s research and showcased the laboratory space, model systems and equipment we use in our day-to-day research.

2021 April – Digital outreach initiative for high-school and middle-school students

(Workshop leaders: Balázs Novotny, Aye lab PhD student, in collaboration with Dr. Nolwenn Chavan, science communication officer, NCCR Chemical Biology)

Workshop Title: NCCR Chemical Biology virtual outreach event

Description: Two high school senior classes joined us on Zoom for two sessions. The first day consisted of a lab tour and live microscopy of transgenic worms with tissue specific fluorescent markers. The second day entailed the discussion of the signature techniques of our lab, by interpreting a review article with the students.

2020 Feb 3rd-7th – SjF Studyweek in Chemistry – outreach for high-school students

(Workshop leaders: Chloé and Daniel)

Workshop Title: On the VERge of New Discoveries Blending Chemistry & Biology

Description: during one week, a Swiss high-school student learned everything there is to know about C. elegans in our lab. He even presented a poster with his own experimental results at the end of the week!

2019 Sept 14th-15th – EPFL Open Days – community outreach for all age

(Workshop leaders: Alexandra, Lingxi, and Chloé)

Workshop Title: Living colours (Les couleurs vivent)

Description: Using ultra-modern genetics method, we have created colourful worms. Now it is your turn to catch them! Grâce aux méthodes génétiques hyper-modernes, nous avons créé des vers colorés. Maintenant c’est à vous de les attraper!

2019 Aug 12th – lab activities with youngsters from EPFL summer camp (in coordination with NCCR Chemical Biology)

(Workshop leaders: Chloé and Daniel)

2019 July 2nd – World Conference of Science Journalists Lunch@Labs

(Workshop leaders: Jesse, Alexandra and Daniel; assisted by Chloé, Lingxi, and Yimon)

2018 July 17th – in support of the CCMR RET (Research Experience for Teachers) Program

(Alexandra: Workshop leader; assisted by Daniel, Jesse, and Xiaopeng)

2018 April 28th – NY-Statewide EYH Conference, Cornell U

(Daniel and Chester: Workshop leaders; assisted by Jesse, Lingxi, Sanjna, Paul, Islam, Andreas, and Yimon)

2018 April 13th – Visit from Vestal High School (Vestal, NY) Students and Teachers

(Daniel: Workshop leader; in coordination with Nev Singhota from Cornell CCMR)

NSF RET

2017 July 28th

(Alexandra and Daniel: workshop leader and coordinator – NSF GRFP fellows and current rising 2nd- and 3rd-year grad students in the Aye Lab; Paul, Sanjna, Sarah, and Islam: workshop volunteers and grad students and undergrad researchers in the Aye Lab; and Dr. Ivan Keresztes, NMR facility Director: coordinator for NMR session)

2017 April 15th – NY-Statewide EYH Conference, Cornell U

(Daniel: Aye Lab workshop leader – an NSF GRFP fellow and current 2nd-year grad student in the Aye Lab; Sanjna and Lining – workshop runners and current juniors in the Aye Lab; Jesse: workshop supervisor – an NIH CBI fellow and current 3rd-year grad student in the Aye Lab)

(Alexandra: one of the session Chairs of 2017 Cornell EYH – an NSF GRFP fellow and current 1st-year grad student in the Aye Lab)

NSF RET

2016 July 5th

(Daniel: workshop leader – an NSF GRFP fellow and current 2nd-year grad student in the Aye Lab;

Michael, Paul, Sanjna, Joe, and Shiv: workshop volunteers and grad students and undergrad researchers in the Aye Lab)

Cornell Expanding Your Horizons

2016 April 30th

(Sine: elected co-chair of the 2016 NY-statewide EYH Conference; Vanha: volunteer “buddy”; Yimon: volunteer panelist for ‘life as a scientist’ session)

Workshop for the Teachers – March 2016 –

for the CIBT-coordinated Master Teachers Program

(Jesse: workshop leader; Daniel, Marcus, Shiv, and Sine: contributing volunteers; Michael and Vanha: volunteer photographers; Dr. Laurel Southard: coordinator and director of CIBT)